In March of 2020, Sheriff Miyamoto violated the San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs’ Association collective bargaining agreement. This agreement is a contract between the union and the City and County of San Francisco covering wages, benefits and work conditions. Sheriff Miyamoto violated our compensatory compensation side letter and the provision of the SFDSA contract. As well as there was an earlier threatened violation attempt on January 17th, 2020 which the SFDSA seemed to have prevented with this cease and desist letter.
On January 17, 2020, DSA President Ken Lomba and Undersheriff Matthew Freeman discussed Compensatory Time Off. Undersheriff Freeman erroneously asserted the City and County of San Francisco was not obligated to continue adhering to the Earn and Burn Agreement under the successor MOU. President Lomba advised that the successor MOU and the Earn and Burn Side Letter Agreement maintained the parties’ status quo regarding CTO accrual and usage practices.
On March 23, 2020, the Sheriff’s Office violated our contract and issued a memorandum to DSA members announcing “the practice commonly referred to as ‘earn and burn’ is suspended” during the period of the public health emergency. Sheriff Miyamoto did not provide advance written notice or an opportunity to meet and confer. Additionally, the parties did not exhaust impasse procedures pursuant to CCSF’s Charter. The Sheriff’s Department has not experienced COVID-19 related absences that have caused an impact to public health or safety. During the COVID-19 pandemic despite suspending CTO Earn and Burn, CCSF increased deputies’ sick leave banks by an additional eighty (80) hours. Also during this time, CCSF allowed SFPD to work one day per pay period from home to conduct training.
In April of 2020, the SFDSA filed a lawsuit based on the foregoing. The DSA anticipates PERB will issue a complaint and hopes the CCSF Sheriff’s Office will engage in discussions to resolve the matter before a hearing.
From our California Public Records Act Request we obtained further information that the Sheriff’s Office had planned this contract violation prior to January 16th, 2020. In an email from the Sheriff’s CFO Hollings to Sheriff Miyamoto and Undersheriff Freeman, he states “the Mayors office has offered to work with us to help implement the cap.”